“The term mandate is somewhat misleading, because there are exceptions — always on medical grounds, frequently on religious grounds, and sometimes on philosophical grounds. Moreover, the thrust of mandates is not to forcibly require vaccination but to predicate eligibility for a service or benefit on adherence to the recommended immunization schedule of vaccination. ”

And in some countries that already have mandates, they aren’t even doing a very good job of making sure that kids even get vaccinated. Many people will be surprised to learn that 14 European countries already mandate one or more vaccines, typically DTP, polio, and MMR.

What’s New in Vaccine Laws

Internationally, the idea of vaccine mandates is a big issue as we continue to see outbreaks of measles in Europe and other areas of the world.

“Parents who vaccinate their children should have confidence that they can take their children to child care without the fear that their children will be at risk of contracting a serious or potentially life-threatening illness because of the conscientious objections of others. ”

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on “No Jab No Pay”

Unlike the Disneyland outbreak in California, the outbreaks in Europe are on a much bigger scale.

That’s why we are finally seeing new vaccine laws, including some that mandate vaccines in some other countries, including:

Australia – the Australian government began a “No Jab No Pay” plan in 2016 that removed the conscientious objector exemption on children’s vaccination for access to taxpayer funded Child Care Benefits, the Child Care Rebate and the Family Tax Benefit Part A end of year supplement.

Estonia – A proposal was put before the Estonian Parliament, the Riigikogu, to make immunizations compulsory.

Germany – a new law, if approved (it has already passed the Bundestag or national parliament), will require parents to have a medical consultation before deciding to delay or skip vaccines or they can be fined up to $2,800. Even with the law, in Germany, “vaccinations remain voluntary. But some politicians have suggested that mandatory vaccination is on the way if concerted efforts to encourage vaccinations don’t work.”

Italy – the Italian Parliament has given final approval to the Decree-Law Containing Urgent Measures on the Compulsory Vaccination of Children, which makes vaccinations against 12 diseases mandatory for children as a condition of school registration, for both private and public schools.

France – is working to expand their list of mandated vaccines to now include protection against 11 diseases instead of just three (diphtheria, tetanus, and polio). All of these vaccines were previously recommended to attend school, but were only voluntary.

Romania – a draft Vaccination Law could bring fines to parents who don’t vaccinate their kids and would keep them out of schools. Doctors could be fined too! The draft law is headed to Parliament for debate.

Again, none of these laws mean that anyone is being forced to vaccinate their kids.

Even in the case of vaccine mandates, they are simply requirements to attend daycare or school.

We are also seeing some new vaccine laws in the United States, including changes for the start of the 2017-2018 school year:

Indiana – pharmacists can give more vaccines, any vaccine that the CDC recommends, either with a prescription or by protocol for kids over are at least 11 years old and adults

Iowa – now requires a meningococcal vaccine for students entering 7th (one dose) and 12th (one or two doses) grades

Nevada – now requires a meningococcal vaccine for students entering 7th grade (one dose) and college (a dose after age 16 years)

Pennsylvania – unvaccinated students now only have a 5 day grace period at the start of the school year to get vaccinated (it used to be 8 months) before getting expelled from school.

It’s easy to navigate the new laws.

Get educated and get your kids vaccinated. Vaccines are safe, vaccines work, and vaccines are necessary.

What To Know About Vaccine Mandate Laws

Vaccine mandate laws are expanding as we are seeing more outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases.